Automatic railway-gate.



No. 698,556. lP atente'd Api'. 29, I902. N. msuma E. e. BUBKHART. AUTUMATIG RAILWAY GATE.

(Application filed Oct. 23, 1901..

(No Mode 3 Sheets-$heet I.

(I r I, Shuenl'ow 11 Fianer A E.Q.-Bur4fkar6 No. 698,556. Patented Apr. 29, I902.

N. RISNER & E. G. BUBKHART. AUTOMATIC RAILWAY GATE.

(Application filed ona, 1901. (No Model. I I 3 Sheets-$heet -2.

J Elwowwbow 7V 2 toner E. GIBurk hart No. 698,556. Patented Apr. 29, I902. N. RISNER 8. E. G. BURKHART.

AUTOMATIC RAILWAY GATE.

(AppTication filed Oct. 28, 1901.)

(No Model.)

Zlnvenl'oa iii/P13372675 ily/ l wllllrl Z7- GEu-M 71.02 t.

, UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

NICHOLAS RISNER AND EDWARD GEORGE BURKHART, OF HAVVKEYE, IOWA.

AUTOMATIC RAI LWAY-GATE.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent NO. 698,556, dated April 29, 1902.

1' Application filed October 23,1901. Serial No. 79,610. (No model.)

T or whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, NICHOLAS RISNER and EDWARD GEORGE BURKHART, citizens of the as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

Our invention relates to automatic railway gates or guards; and ourobject is to provide a gate or guard of the character specified which will prove wholly automatic and at the same time thoroughly reliable and efficient.

Other objects and advantages will be made clearly apparent from the following specification, considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which-- Figure 1 is a perspective view of our invention complete. Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof. Fig. 3 is a top plan view of our improved railway-gate. Fig. 4 is a central longitudinal section. Figs.5 and 6 illustrate certain cooperating details of our invention separated from cooperating parts. I

An excavation is made beneath the track at the point where the gate is placed, and a supporting-framework for the rails, the gate, and the operating mechanism is placed therein. The rails 1 are supported on the framework, consisting of the longitudinal and transverse beams 2, 3, 7, 8, and 10, suitably united, as shown.

Our gate proper comprises the horizontal beams 4 and a plurality of upright pieces 5, properly secured to said beams in any preferred manner. The gate thus formed is held normally elevated by means of the springs 6, resting upon cross-piece 7, which in turn rests upon the longitudinal base-piece 8, there being one of the latter upon each side.

The gate proper, formed as above specified, is supplemented by the rigid or stationary members 9, firmly secured to the cross-bar 10, which may extend entirely under the trackrails, if desired. The gate proper is further supported by the springs 11 in order that the said gate shall be reliably held elevated. To cooperate with the wheels of the train and hold the movable gate-section depressed until the train shall have passed over, we provide the tread-rail 12, which is supported upon the curved end 13 of the yoke 14. (Illustratedin detailin Fig. 5.) The said yoke is provided with the apertures 15, designed to receive the rod 16, extending through suitable brackets 17, carried by the member 2. A similar yoke, as indicated in the drawings, is provided for the opposite end of our automatic gate, a similar rod 16 being employed to hold it in its opera-.

tive position. The lower end of the yoke 14 is formed by the'cross-bar l8,and said bar is designed to engage the contiguous end of the gate-controlling lever 19, said lever being pivotally secured near its middle portion to the cross-bar 20, said lever being connected at its inner end to the gate-controller 21 by means of the link-section 22, and as said gate-controller is pivotally secured in position, as indicated by the numeral 23, to acontiguous part of the member 24 it is obvious that when the flange of the wheels engages the member 12 said member will contact with the curved end 13 of the yoke 14 and cause the inner end of said yoke to be elevated, the result being that the gate-controller 21 will force the gate downward out of the way of the moving car and will hold said gate so depressed until all of the cars of the train shall have passed over. The wheels of the train will each in suc-. cession engage the member 12 and insure that it will be held depressed, and the result will be that the gate will be locked against upward movement until the pressure upon said member is removed, when the gate will be restored to its normal or elevated position by means of the cooperating springs 6 and 11. If desired, the action of the springs 6 and 11 may be facilitated by extending the outer end of the gate-controlling member 21 sufficiently to receive the weighted; section 25, it being understood that said weighted member may consist of a box or other suitable receptacle filled with stones, sand, or the like. Wehave illustrated in detail the shape of the gatecontrolling member 21, said detailed illustration being presented in Fig. 6, the free end thereof being slightly enlarged, as indicated by the numeral 26, in order to insure that the the operation thereof may be stated to be as to the link-section 22 in any preferred way, as by the split key 27, though it will be understood that said link may be formed of metal and the trunnions carried thereby may be engaged by a threaded nut, as is obvious.

It will be understood that the rigidly-seen red members 9 are designed to cooperate with and form a continuation of any variety of fencing employed to designate the boundary-line. It is further obvious that the various parts below the track-rails may be inolosed, if desired, by suitably-arranged slats or wires, though we deem it unnecessary for the purpose of this application to illustrate such devices.

The approach to each end of our improved automatic railway-gate may be provided with the members 28, each preferably having a curved upper face, it being understood that suitable wires may extend across from one of said members to the other, if it should be desired to inclose the lower parts.

Having thus fully described the construction and combination of the various parts deemed necessary in the construction of our improved automatic railway gate or guard,

follows: After the several parts have thus been mounted in their respective operative positions the approaching train will, by means of the flanges of the wheels, engage the member 12 and depress the same sufficiently to elevate the cross-bar 18 of the yoke l4,thereby causing said bar to elevate the outer end of the lever 19, and the inner end of said lever will cause the depression of the inner end of the gate-controller 21, and thereby overcome the tension of the springs 6 and 11 and force the gate below the surface of the trackrails or entirely out of the way of the passing train. It is obvious that as soon as the cars shall have passed over our improved automatic gate the force of said springs will be brought to bear upon the gate and in con nection with the counterpoising member 25 restore said gate to its elevated or normal position.

While we have described the preferred construction and combination of parts, we desire to comprehend in this application all substantial equivalents and substitutes which may be considered to fall fairly within the scope of our invention.

Having thus fully described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

In a railway-gate of the character specified, a suitable frame; a movable gate-section mounted on said frame, in combination with tread-rails 12 and suitable cooperating devices intermediate said tread-plate and gate embodying yokes, supporting said tread-rails, a pivoted gate-controller, and a gate-controlling lever having pivotal connection with said controller whereby the gate will be depressed when said plate is depressed by the wheels of the moving train, and means to restore the gate to a normally elevated position after the train is past, all combined substantially as specified and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

NICHOLAS RISNER. EDWARD GEORGE BURKHART. Witnesses:

L. G. BELSOHNER, J. H. DAUDEL. 

